Torches

'Lighting' the World of Women: Lamps and Torches in the Hands of Women in the Late
Archaic and Classical Periods

Author(s): Eva Parisinou
Source: Greece & Rome, Vol. 47, No. 1 (Apr., 2000), pp. 19-43
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/826945
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Greece & Rome, Vol. 47, No. 1, April 2000
'LIGHTING' THE WORLD OF WOMEN:

LAMPS AND TORCHES IN THE HANDS OF
WOMEN IN THE LATE ARCHAIC AND
CLASSICAL PERIODS*
By EVA PARISINOU
This paper is concerned with some of the 'dark' aspects of the liv
Athenian women of the Archaic and Classical periods. Throug
review of images of women with light in hand and of female activ
that were illuminated by lamps and torches, the amount and sign
ance of women's activities which required lighting devices ma
traced. These may have taken place in private, inside the oikos -
which our knowledge is limited - or outside the oikos, where w
enjoyed a restricted participation in certain socio-religious activ
The kind of females under discussion range from 'respectable' w
and daughters of Athenian citizens to hetairai, the professional fe
entertainers. On the basis of literary and iconographical evidence, I sh
seek to identify the nature and timing of those female activities, and
assess whether the type of lighting device chosen for a particular act
may possibly reveal other aspects of the life of Athenian wome
notably age or social status.
Lamps in Private Domestic Activities of

'Respectable' Women
In the prologue to the Ecclesiazousai (1-18)1 Aristophanes refers to the

lamp as the all-seeing witness of the domestic female world. His
paratragic hymn to the lamp explicitly associates this particular lighting
device with some of the most private aspects of the life of women,
notably sex (7-11: 'You watch while in the ecstasies of love / Our bodies
twist and heave, and no one dreams / Of putting you outside'), genital
depilation (12-13: 'Your singeing flame / Has penetrated many a hairy
nook / And secret crevice of the female form'), and secret sneaking into
the house storerooms (14-15: 'You are at hand when furtive wives
20 'LIGHTING' THE WORLD OF WOMEN
unlock / The storehouse door, or siph

the lamp is here treated as a metap
presides over day-time activities in
quite proper to describe the birth
addressed, / And you were born up
your nozzle spurts the sacred flame').
the boundaries of the oikos, lightin
citizen women, probably women of so
outdoor male privileges were apparen
poorer females.3 Fear of speaking p
notably those mentioned above, which
reveals, is another sign of the austerit
class Athenian females (16: 'And [the
world'). The lamp encloses and in t
domesticity, the deliberate margin
secrecy that enveloped it. This secrec
political role of Athenian women; nam
generation of Athenian citizens. As
and secret world, the lamp's form
(mainly containers) which constituted
A review of archaeological data fr
shows that the life of women was
gynaikeion, which was thought to
wherever it existed. Domestic fema
to the ground floor of the Classica
distance from the andron was kept,
admitted. In any case, on the basis of
the amount of natural light that w
limited,6 and therefore the use of
during the day, at least for some a
concerning the time when the abo
Aristophanes took place remains op
The iconographical evidence availab
in a domestic context is indeed limite
quarter of the 5th century provide
link between a lamp and an apparen
woman (barefoot, wearing a girded sl
a bun) approaches the door of an/h
her right hand, which is brought f
mouth, probably in a gesture of anxi
'LIGHTING' THE WORLD OF WOMEN 21
. . .. . .. . .. .
.. ..... ...iiiiiiiiii l ....
gg, -::
W IN%-:::_:~::::i ii:::il: ::: :i ::~:
. . ........ :i :?: ::..-. ::: ::
41::_ :::?::
M t,::i:- : _ ~ii .
1 4: i:::?:: ::::::
iiii' M-iii::i::::
MM::'
40~a.:
Wk*:
1. Attic Red-figure Chous. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund, 1937.
(37.11.19)
naked bearded man bangs it with an extinguished torch, which he

holds in his right hand. His himation hangs loosely from his left
shoulder together with a lyre and he wears a cloth head-dress. Whether
this man is her husband, or whether he should be identified with
Dionysos in a reenactment of his annual sacred wedding with the wife
of the Archon-Basileus at the Boukolei

The social roles of the male and the
lighting objects that are held. The t
nudity and lyre, represents the out
outfit shares common traits with t
appear on 5th- and 4th-century red
contemporary literature.'0 His fierce
house underlines his dominant role both outside and inside the oikos.
On the other hand, the lamp combined with the woman's gesture and
the enclosed space of the oikos (marked by the door, the doorstep, an
the roof-tiles), allude to her dependent and obedient status.
Another example of the use of lamps by 'respectable' females withi
the boundaries of the oikos is represented on a mid-4th-century Sicilian
calyx-krater now in the Museum of Lipari (Fig. 2). A one-nozzled clay
lamp is held by one of the two daughters of Adrastos, as they approach
Tydeus and Polyneikes, who are fighting in front of the entrance of the
Argive palace." Adrastos tries to separate and reconcile the fighting
pair. The king's daughters, Argeia and Diepyle, are identified by thei
diadems and wear sleeveless long chitons and bordered himatia. One o
them holds the lamp out towards the men, who are fighting at a sheltered
porch, probably in front of the entrance of the palace. The young
women, although present at the fight, do not cross the limits of thei
confined oikos, which is here also alluded to by the lamp. Apparently, th
painter's decision to place a lamp in the princesses' hands does not
appear to reflect a need to shed light on the event, which must have
begun in the dark. Instead, the lamp here rather functions as a symbol o
their confined domestic world as maidens, and their attachment to th
oikos of their father, perhaps foreshadowing their fate as the future wive
of the noblemen who are fighting at their doorstep.
A Lamp-Witness of a Divine Secret
Moving to the divine world, a lamp is the sole witness of the nursing of
Erichthonios, the secret child of Athena in a scene described by Nonnus
(Dionysiaca, 27. 113-15):12 'Erechtheus, whom unmothered Pallas once
nursed at her breast, she, the virgin enemy of wedlock, secretly guarding
him by the wakeful light of a lamp.' The image of the goddess nursing
her child by the light of a lamp may be paralleled with, and indeed may
have derived from, the 'mortal' way of mothering a child inside the limits
2. Sicilian Red-figure Calyx-krater. Lipari,
of the oikos. Yet the lamp is the sile

attempt of Hephaistos to violate her
see why the nursing of Erichthonios is
and lamp-light, instead of taking place
the sun, the traditional informer in G
the lamp of Athena as a metaphorical r
combining the fire of Hephaistos wi
(the lamp's wick) recalling the wool w
off Athena's thigh.14 If this assumptio
the lamp of Athena in her temple
widows,"15 who had experienced thi

and not by virgins as one would hav
Therefore Burkert's assumption that
phoroi'6 from the temple of Athena to
north slope of the Akropolis may ha
purification of Athena's lamp does not
of their absolute restriction to see th
Euphorion (3-18)17 which records an
the daughters of Kekrops when a sa
lamp fell may perhaps be taken as a re
Lamps and the Practice of Genital Depilation
Further aspects of the private life of women may be observed in two

depilation-scenes represented on red-figure vases.18 The first is painted
in the interior of a cup in the manner of Onesimos,19 where the singeing
operation is carried out by a naked woman squatting over a water-basin
with the aid of a lamp. The Dinos painter introduced Eros in the scene
on a bell-krater from Sicily.20 He takes active part in the depilation
procedure together with two more nude females, one of whom shares
the same pose with Aphrodite Genetrix. Whether the nudity of the
female figures in these scenes should be perceived as a characteristic
exclusively connected with the status of hetairai21 is an interesting
question, since the action of singeing pubic hair made this inevitable
for respectable and public women alike. While nudity does not seem to
have been a common feature in representations of respectable females, it
can surely not be taken as an exclusive characteristic of hetaira status.22
Lamps and Love-making
The profession of hetairai required nudity, as may be observed on a

range of red-figure scenes, many of which are lit by lamps. In the case of
hetairai, the acts of love-making or of uncovering their body are open
affairs which take place freely for male entertainment. Lamps belong to
the luxury of the hetaira's professional environment which sharply
contrasts with the modesty of 'respectable' women's space within the
Classical Greek household.23 Bronze lamps on stands with one or two
nozzles, lamps hanging from a central stem or tube and, more rarely,
simple one-nozzled specimens, replac

of the kind that lights the assembly
Late Archaic vase painters introduced
scenes of different sorts. On the exter
dated c.520-505,24 a youth with a lamp
in his right approaches a naked hetaira
a broader erotic scene comprising yo
only element defining time and interio
drinking party. A similar type of lamp
the tondo scene of a cup by the T
depicted, one masturbating and the o
sandal, while the outside of the cup
hetairai and men, among whom la
Likewise, Makron decorated a sympo
with lamps on high stands placed be
kline a man and a hetaira are engage
may be inferred by the skyphoi and c
those placed on the tables in front of
included lamps in his erotic groups.
cup27 a naked hetaira lies on a kline w
lamp on a stand together with a basket
the decoration of the room. A further innovative scene on the outside of a
cup by the same painter28 depicts a bearded older man in a himation
supported by a staff within a series of erotic groups of naked men and
hetairai (Fig. 3). Without participating in the orgy, he attempts to touch
with a burning lamp the bottom of a naked hetaira, who is busy making
love with another bearded man, who lifts her in his arms.
Clothed hetairai also appear in nocturnal symposia lit by lamps,
usually as musicians. On an oinochoe by the Meidias Painter29 for
example (c.410) a woman wearing a chiton plays the double flute for a
nude male dancer holding two sticks. A seated male spectator with a
wreath, a jug, and a cup resting on a small table as well as a lamp on a
stand, complete the typical symposion iconography.
Lamps often lit the nocturnal drinking parties of homosexual couples;
among the earliest examples is a scene on the reverse of a fragmentary
calyx-krater30 by Euphronios. Here, a bronze lamp on a high stand is
placed next to a dinos on a stand from which wine is being scooped. On
the obverse side of the krater, a lyre hanging from the wall completes the
decoration of the symposion. The klinai with the male participants
accompanied by dressed female flute-players occupy the obverse side
3. Attic Red-figure Cup. Florence, Museo
of the vase. By 430, on a stamnos by the Painter of the Louvre

Symposion,31 another type of lamp is depicted in connection with
homosexual couples. It is two-nozzled, with a ring at the upper end of
the central tube or stem from which it hung. The men of the scene are
entertained by a female flute-player in chiton and himation, while
engaging in activities such as kottabos, playing the lyre, or drinking.
The complicity of lamps and lovers is explicitly described by Aris-
tophanes (Ecclesiazousai, 8-10), where the lamp is a silent witness of
female bodies while involved in intercourse.32 This is a particularly
revealing reference to the usually unspoken duties of legitimate Athenian
wives.33 'Respectable' women apparently

good excuse for meeting lovers outside
of the wife of Euphiletos (Lysias 1.1
lamp burning in her chamber every nig
5) clearly alludes to her expectation o
her husband. Lovers and lamps are as
anonymous comedian,34 which is repe
and Asclepiades: 'O dearest bed / You are a God, blessed lamp, in
Bacchis' eyes; / And that being so, you're of deities.'35 The bed and the
lamp are addressed by lovers during their private moments, the lamp
even compared to a god because of its brightness. It is not a coincidence
that this perception of the personified lamp stays in literature long after
Old Comedy. Plutarch (Moralia: Talkativeness 513) explains this atti-
tude towards lamps as well as towards other inanimate things as a natural
drive of lovers to recall the memory of objects connected with their
pleasure. As will be seen in the epigrams cited below, mainly from
Hellenistic times, the females that are primarily associated with lamps in
literature do not seem to be of the respectable kind.
In a 3rd-century epigram by Asclepiades36 a lover speaks to the lamp
as to a personified god, in connection with the breaking of a love-oath by
a girl called Herakleia. The lamp, having been witness of the girl's oath
that was sworn three times, is now being asked to take revenge on the
deceitful girl by refusing to offer light to her and her new lover in their
chamber: 'Dear Lamp, thrice Herakleia here present swore by you / To
come, and does not come. / Lamp, if you are a god, take vengeance on
that deceitful girl. When she has a friend at home / And she is sporting
with him, go out, and give them no more light.' In a 2nd/lst-century
epigram by Meleagros37 a woman chooses to confide to a lamp and to
the night - instead of any other confidant - that she has broken a love-
oath sworn by her and her lover in their presence. Being the all-seeing
witness of night-time activities, it also knows her lover's affairs: 'O holy
Night and Lamp, we both chose no confidants / But you of our oaths: /
And he swore to love me and I never to leave him; / And you were joint
witnesses. / But now he says those oaths were written in running water, /
And you, Lamp, see him in the bosom of others.' Meleagros appears
particularly keen to use invocations to personifications of night, moon,
stars, lamp, or his musical instrument for the parties: 'O Stars and
Moon, that light well love's friends on their way, / And Night, and you,
my little mandoline, / Companion of my serenades, shall I see her, the
wanton one, / Yet lying awake and crying much to her lamp / Or has she
some companion of the night?'38 The im

her love problems to her lamp seems
perception of the lamp as a living entity
ever watchful / Lamp, each separate Ven
and shines brightly or sleeps: 'Let the
epigram of Meleagros, the lamp is ask
Heliodora to whom her lover has entr
succumb to the love of another:41 'Or
dalliance? / May you never look on this
whom I committed to your care.'
The association of lamps with the work
observed in the decoration of the few
lamps or lamps with stands. The relief p
Chalkis dated to about 400 bears incis
female figures, one of whom is probabl
with a polos on her head and a shell in h
for a bronze candelabrum from the
mid-5th century.43 The decoration of a
from Kamiros, Rhodes shows a more d
in the form of a female figurine with a
The notion of intimacy between lam
appear to be restricted to humans; howe
'eye' of a lamp as a metaphor for the
commonest time for copulation (Hist
attests that the smell of the extinguish
a pregnant mare, and also sometimes t
situation (History of Animals, 604b29)
Torches in a Prenuptial Context

'Pure' Females
In contrast to lamps which penetrate the domestic secret life of

able' women, and the enclosed professional activities of hetair
bearing females are represented usually in the open. As one m
from 5th-century vase representations, the torch in female han
justifies their escape from secluded quarters whilst underlin
civic existence. Torches may be held by women of all ages, rang
parthenoi to married women, involved in a variety of prima
religious activities.
From the late 6th century onwards,

fragmentary black-figure krateriskoi
Artemis (for example at Brauron, Mo
girls painted in white colour or wearing
depicted running towards schematic a
handles of the krateriskoi.46 Taeniae h
those that appear in torch-races for m
torch-racers appear to range from th
marriage, to the younger girls, who are
sleeveless chitons sometimes tight at th
the lower part of their chiton tucked in
The latter type of dress was particularly
and physical movement, resembling
recalling the pattern of the wild 'un
wide short sleeveless chitons also facilitated movement and were
perhaps worn by even younger female racers.
A red-figure fragment of a pyxis lid from the sanctuary at Braur
the third quarter of the 5th century provides a good example
circular dance around an altar.48 Four young women, dressed i
chiton and himation and holding raised short torches in each h
perform a dance to the music of a flute-player seated among the
their posture and the position of their hands, two different d
movements may be distinguished, each executed by two females.
During the first, they stand with the torso in frontal view, the head in
profile and the arms extended on either side of the body, holding (or
trying to hold) the torches almost upright. The other two figures are in
profile view and hold the torches at different levels, with the left raised
and the right lowered. The age of the females may partly be determined
by their long dress, indicative of the older apKTOL,49 and partly by their
similarity to older age-groups on the krateriskoi. Although the presence
of torches is not necessarily indicative of night-time activity, the torch-
lit dance recalls the literary evidence for rravvvxtSEs in Artemis' cult.50
Ch. Sourvinou-Inwood has shown that the visual combination of the
altar of Artemis with a palm tree and a torch-bearing woman must
probably belong to a prenuptial context, alluding to wedding prepara-
tions.51 A palm tree stands in the background of a scene on an alabastron
in Otago Museum52 as an allusion to Artemis, while a female with
torches in hand approaches an altar. Simpler compositions consisting of
an altar (without palm tree) and a torch-bearing woman, usually
wearing a peplos, also occur53 and

previous type with the palm tree.
It is indeed tempting to associate the '
(QpKTOL) in the realm of Artemis54 wit
purity of the torch's flame is alluded to
has often served as source for the torches of Artemis, as may be
observed on a number of red-figure representations." At the same
time the image of a girl with a torch must have borne at least some
resemblance to Hestia, the virgin goddess associated with the domestic
fire which was the sacred centre of every household, and who may be
depicted with burning torch in hand.56 On the other hand, the image of a
torch-bearing woman next to an altar may be seen as a commonly
understood iconographical point of reference recalling wider scenes of
wedding, which required torches.
Wedding Torches and Legitimate Unions
Representations of all the phases of the wedding ritual regularly include

torch-bearing females (and sometimes young males). A lebes gamikos in
New York57 by the Washing Painter, depicting the adornment of the
bride before the wedding, includes a frontal torch-bearing woman
behind the seated bride. The woman wears a peplos and a cap-like
head-dress and holds two torches on either side, with her head turned
towards the bride. Scenes of the procession to fetch water for the
prenuptial bath of the bride or groom also required torches. For
example, two torch-bearing females figure in a procession to the
fountain on a loutrophoros from the circle of the Naples Painter;5s the
procession is led by a young flute-player, followed by a loutrophoros-
bearing woman, and a further woman with a torch in her left hand, who
leads a girl with her right hand. Next comes a woman with krotala and
last, the bride, who is led forth by another torch-bearing woman. Both
torch-bearers are dressed in chiton and himation with their hair in a
sakkos or tied back with white bands, while the woman who leads th
child is adorned with ear-rings and necklace. Two torch-bearing females
are placed at the head and the end of a smaller procession to the fountain
on a loutrophoros in Athens by the Washing Painter."9 The woman who
leads carries two torches and looks back to her followers, among whom
are a flute-playing boy, a girl with an adorned loutrophoros, and the
bride. She is followed by two women, o

left hand.
During the procession to the bride's
are held by the mother of the bride (da
procession.'6 The earliest such repres
with mixed divine and mortal participa
1686 (c.550-540).61 A woman dressed
chiton and a himation raises two torc
mounted on a two-horse chariot. S
together with Hermes. The participa
and Apollo as well as a mortal female
moment before the procession leaves th
a red-figure loutrophoros dated to abou
sleeved chiton and himation stands be
oikos, and faces the couple who are m
Painter also chose to depict the beginni
the chariot has just left the bride's hom
advanced position beside the horses of t
at the procession; the latter consists of
a boy wearing a himation and a wreat
in his left hand, and two women carry
new household.
The alternative mode of representing wedding processions, wherei
the groom leads the bride by the wrist (XEtp E7TL Kap7TtW), offers wide
opportunities to include more figures in the procession (since the bridal
chariot is omitted from the scene). The decision to increase the numb
of torch-bearing females in wedding processions from one to four
cannot be coincidental but probably derives from an actual ritual
which apparently required burning of torches (probably also for
practical reasons).64 For example, two pairs of torch-bearing females
may be observed among a larger group of female attendants on a
loutrophoros by Polygnotos, c.430.65 The bride's mother is probably the
elaborately dressed figure to the right of the bridegroom, who gazes at
the couple, pointing her torches towards them. A younger torch-
bearing female in a simpler outfit stands behind the bride with two
torches in a similar position. This central group is surrounded by a
second pair of torch-bearing females who do not look towards the
couple, but are apparently engaged in conversation with the attendants
next to them. Their posture and the position of their torches vary as
does their dress. A fifth woman with one torch together with two more
who carry boxes complete the scen

to the house of the bride, as may b
than walking - position of the participants. The Washing Painter
generally gave his dadouchousai a leading place in the procession; they
were usually frontally depicted with their heads turned towards the
couple and their torches held upright on either side of their bodies
(Fig. 4).66 Similarly, the Painter of the Athens Wedding depicts a
dadouchousa with two upright burning torches leading the couple
among a group of attendants and musicians."'
4. Attic Red-figure Loutrophoros. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum Inv. IV 2027
The arrival of the procession at the bridegroom's home is represented

in art as early as c.540 on a lekythos by Amasis. The groom's mother
with torches in hand awaits the couple as they arrive in procession, led
by a dadouchousa on foot.68 She walks towards the entrance of her
daughter's new house with two short burning torches in her upraised
hands, while next to her a pair of mules draw the bridal cart. In red-
figure the Amphitrite Painter"69 retains the iconographical pattern of the
bridegroom's mother standing at the entrance of her home with two
burning torches, facing the approaching couple. Next to her a male
figure in himation,70 with a laurel wreath on his head and holding a lyre,
awaits the arrival of the couple. The dadouchousa is behind the couple
and holds one torch in her right hand while her left is covered by her
long himation. A similar arrangement ma

by the Sabouroff Painter (c.460),71 whil
iconographical pattern of the bride's r
maintained, as may be seen on the frieze
The next stage in the social transition
includes an integration ritual around t
again play a central role in the whole p
unification of the two households. In this
of the dadouchousa directly derived from
element of mobility in every woman's
dadouchousa approaches the altar with t
home. A scene on a white-ground pyxis
depicts this ritual as a procession to an alt
mother of the bridegroom, the couple, m
Torches are also held by the mother o
that leads the couple to the bridal bed. On
at the door of the bridal chamber (tha
while two female attendants make the b
the leading of the bride to the thalamo
unattributed loutrophoros. The bed is visi
of the chamber, where the groom's m
torches to welcome the couple. A fuller ve
thalamos is given by the Copenhagen P
the wedding of Peleus and Thetis.75 Th
mother with two burning torches, who
chamber looking back at those who follow
who stands just outside the chamber facin
burning torches. Behind them walks Arte
followed by her brother Apollo playing
Torch-bearing females are also found in
newly-wed couple, which should most p
feast of 'E-raiAta.76 The Sabouroff Pain
the Painter of London E 489 have furn
(usually in the shape of lebetes gamikoi) in
depicted seated among women who hold
and kalathoi. The torches may be held by
victories) who hold a place under the ha
gamikoi in Brussels by the Sabouroff Pa
Mykonos Painter)8' or by women who m
near the bride. In the early 4th centur
gamikoi and loutrophoroi may be me

Artemis Mounychia.79 Representations o
holding a torch in one hand standin
figures, who hold alabastra and sacrifi
It is obvious from these above discuss
a significant role in the wedding ritual,
function as sources of light.81 They m
from the prenuptial bath, where thei
with those of the water, to the rites of
bride to her new household. During t
in, for example, the procession to the f
or the setting out of the procession fro
also found in the hands of boy partici
representations is the upright positio
number as well as the status and gen
was also important in certain cases. Duri
bride, torches are held by respectable
their family duties successfully, and
processions. One such procession is d
and is led by the bride's mother (dad
the bridegroom's mother. The latter
entrance of her house and then leads
new home and to the bridal bed. Once the social transition of the bride
is completed with the symbolic transfer of fire from her old home to her
new one,82 the torches fall into the hands of younger females or flying
Nikai on vase representations of post-nuptial celebrations, such as the
'EravAta. On the other hand, the pure light of torches directly alludes to
and guarantees the chastity of the bride as she leaves the realm of
Artemis and her life as a maiden and enters that of Aphrodite, marking
her transformation from a maiden to a woman. Torches recall this
important and necessary transition in the life of every honour
woman, and their presence therefore legitimizes her sexual unio
through marriage. This concept of the dadouchia as a ritual that
added validity to the rite of marriage is also repeatedly attested in
literature, where it becomes clear that weddings without torches
(4atov6Xq-Tot ycdpot) had to be avoided.83
Hearth-light, Love-making, and Reproduction
Despite the function of torches as symbols of legitimate sexual union,

the fire of the hearth was apparently meant to be kept at a safe distance
from sexual activities within the household. Hesiod advises that one
should not expose one's shameful parts to the hearth when stained
seed (Works and Days 733-4), and a similar attitude is found in a
fragment of Hipponax (107.20),84 where the beginning of sexual
activity is marked by the covering of the fire."' As R. Parker notes, it
is specifically the bodily emission from which the hearth must be
protected and the purity of its light is reflected in the virgin nature of
the hearth-goddess, Hestia.86 Here we may contrast the apparently usual
presence of lamps during sexual intercourse, legitimate or otherwise.
Torches, though symbols of legitimate unions, do not appear to have
been the preferred means of lighting during erotic action. As far as we
can tell from red-figure iconography, their use must have terminated at
the door of the bridal chamber, to which, in the hands of the groom's
mother, they led the procession. The involvement of torches in the ritual
of the integration of the bride which took place at the hearth of the house
may help to explain their exclusion from the 'impure' side of the union
of the couple.
Women with Torches in the Worship of Gods: a Justification

for Public Life
A mid-5th-century red-figure lekythos87 depicts a woman involved

ritual action; she stands with a basket in her left hand and an animal he
by its tail in her right. The animal, which would most probably g
more precise indications of the type of ritual represented, has bee
variously interpreted as a dog or a pig.88 In front of the woman tw
burning torches are stuck in the ground, pointing in the same direction
in which the animal faces. If the animal is a pig, one might assume that
the moment depicted is that shortly before it was thrown into a chasm
earth (pEyapov) by the light of torches. This was the custom during the
Thesmophoria, participation in which was restricted to citizen women.8
On a red-figure lekythos,90 a woman is depicted holding a torch and
thymiaterion. She stands frontally turning her head to her right (Fig.
An altar or a block seat forms the only landscape element, and offers n
5. Attic Red-figure Lekythos. Athens, Amer
help in reconstructing the ritual con

women with two torches in similar o
ritual contexts are plentiful in vase p
run93 turning their heads momenta
observed in representations of maena
which case the torches may also be t
against the pursuer. Furthermore, the
woman who turns to look back may
representations of ephebes (double spe
himation)95 and komasts96 on the r
ephebes, allusions to the theme of erotic pursuit may perhaps be
recalled.97 Whether the coexistence of torch-bearing women with
komasts implies a pannychis or an ordinary revel is an open question.
In all cases (torch-bearing maenads with satyrs, women with ephebes, or
komasts) the status of these women

characteristics (with one or two torch
Conclusion
It has been shown that artificial light penetrated the female world
night and day, inside and outside the oikos, on a number of occ
These extended from the most private moments of Athenian w
such as love-making, genital depilation, or secret filching of foo
the home's storeroom, to public activities, such as the wedding ritu
the worship of gods. The type of lighting device associated with
activities appears to have been dependent to a certain extent on f
such as the age and status of the female as well as the nature and ti
the activity itself.
Torches seem to have been mainly held by 'respectable' fema
outdoor activities. The age of the females may vary from the 'untam
parthenoi to mature women-dadouchousai in weddings; in the case o
unmarried girls, the torch symbolizes their attachment to the r
Artemis, the virgin goddess who is frequently represented with a t
hand. It also most probably recalled Hestia, the other virgin god
the pure fire of each household. Similarly, a prenuptial context
be 'read' in vase-representations depicting torch-bearing femal
ephebes with double spear, shield, and himation. On the other hand
torch held by the mother of the bride or groom - key figures in w
rites - functions in a different way. Both women, having succe
performed their duty towards their state through marriage and mo
hood, enjoy the privilege of bearing the symbols of legitimacy
union of their children.
In the worship of gods, the only extensive vase-representation most
probably depicts a 'respectable' female, if the scene is to be identified
with the Thesmophoria. However, 'non-respectable' females were also
allowed to take part in a number of state religious celebrations, such as
the initiation at the Eleusinian Mysteries."9 The simpler scenes of
women with one or two torches in hand advancing in one direction
and turning their head to look back, though perhaps too confined to
enable interpretations of their broader context, probably represent
activity performed by 'respectable' females (on the basis of similarities
in posture with women leading wedding processions, or processions
including Dionysos with his thiasos). In the case of torch-bearing women
who are depicted with komasts (some

should be voiced concerning their 're
even respectable females enjoyed great
nal vigils as parts of certain religio
Demeter, Dionysos, etc.), the possibi
thus represented cannot be ruled out
Lamps on the other hand appear to shine indiscriminately on
activities within enclosed space for both 'respectable' females and
hetairai. This lighting device is connected with the most intimate
moments of a woman's life (for example, a woman's toilet and love-
making), and therefore was often treated in literature as a personified
female friend, who never betrays women's trust. Unlike the simplest
one-nozzled form of the clay lamps that are represented within the
domestic space of 'respectable' females (even of those of some wealth),
the professional environment of hetairai apparently required their
luxurious metal version. Since the setting for the hetaira's activity is
clearly 'male' (for example, the place where the drinking parties were
held), the inequality of the living space between the male and female
residents of the oikos becomes increasingly striking.99 The modesty of
women's quarters is further revealed by their apparent darkness even
during the day, on the basis of our knowledge of the architectural form
of Greek houses.
Finally, one may conclude that the type of lighting device may in
many cases be used to elaborate on the status, age, and nature of
activity of the female involved, and may also provide useful clues
regarding the timing of these activities. Lamps and torches indeed
appear to have contributed more than mere light to the females whose
space they illuminated; their intimacy with their female owners may
well be explained by the plethora and significance of aspects of female
life which they illuminated. Day or night, they offered light and
company to females of varied social backgrounds and professions;
from the secluded Athenian woman inside the oikos to the indoor or
outdoor operations of the hetaira. Outside the oikos, torches were
symbols of female civic existence, which continuously underlined
recalled the vital socio-political role that women played in Archaic a
Classical Athens.
NOTES
* I am grateful to Dr C. A. Morgan who read and commented on an

article.
1. For commentary and discussion: R. G. Ussher, Aristophanes, Ecc
York, 1986), 70-3; L. K. Taaffe, Aristophanes and Women (London-Ne
2. For the common aspects shared by sun and lamp and their signifi
sai: A. M. Bowie, Aristophanes. Myth, Ritual and Comedy (Cambridge,
3. For female domestic seclusion as a symbol of status: S. Walker i
Antiquity, A. Cameron-A. Kuhrt eds. (London, 1993), 81-2. The image
Athenian women in Classical times has been criticized by J. Roy, G&R
4. For the role and significance of containers in the world of wo
'Women, Boxes, Containers: Some Signs and Metaphors' in Pandora: W
E. D. Reeder ed. (Baltimore-Princeton, 1995), 91 ff.; E. D. Reeder, 'Con
Metaphors for Women' in Pandora, op. cit., 195 ff.
5. On gender relations and their reflection in the spatial distribution
Classical Greek house: Walker, op. cit. (n. 3), 81-91, esp. 85; L. C. Nevett, BSA 90 (1995),
363 ff., esp. 373; S. Blundell, Women in Ancient Greece (London, 1995), 138-44.
6. Archaeological evidence for windows in Classical houses is rare. A 4th-century house at
Ammotopos, Epirus preserves high and narrow windows on the ground floor, which, despite the
limited amount of light that they admitted, protected the occupants of the house from being
observed from the street: Nevett, op. cit. (n. 5), 378. Delian Hellenistic houses, for example,
provide evidence for the existence of windows on their upper floor. A. W. Lawrence (rev. by
R. A. Tomlinson), Greek Architecture (New Haven-London, 1983), 330. For windows in Greek
residential buildings, also see: Lawrence, op. cit., 317-18; E. C. Keuls, The Reign of the Phallus.
Sexual Politics in Ancient Athens (Berkeley-Los Angeles-London, 1993), 97, 96 fig. 87.
7. However, Theophrastus (Characters 28) condemns behaviour such as the opening of the
front door by the wife as this would bring her into direct contact with men. For discussion:
Blundell, op. cit. (n. 5), 135-8.
8. New York, Metropolitan Museum 37.11.19. On the interpretation of the scene in the
broader iconographical context of hieros gamos: E. Simon, 'Ein Anthesterien-Skyphos des Poly-
gnotos', AK 6 (1961), pl. 5.4.
9. For example: Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen T 490, Add2 384, CVA i, pl. 38.3-4;
Frankfurt, Museum fuir Vor- und Friihgeschichte 0 407, Para 473, CVA ii, pl. 67.3-4; Alten-
burg, Staatliches Lindenau-Museum 230, AR V2 1283.14, CVA ii, pl. 72.1, 2, 4; Vienna,
Kunsthistorisches Museum 2223, ARV2 1518.2, CVA i, pl. 27.2-3; Vienna, Kunsthistorisches
Museum 203, ARV2 1518.3, CVA i, pl. 28.5; Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum 207, ARV2
1519.15, CVA i, pl. 26.2; Ferrara, Museo Archeologico Nazionale T 893 (3141), Add2 384;
Rome, Museo del Palazzo dei Conservatori 365, ARV2 946.38, Para 432, CVA ii, pl. 26.1-2;
Oxford, Ashmoleum Museum 308, AR V2 1139.5.
10. Aristophanes, Ploutos 1040-1; Ecclesiazousai 691-2; Antiphon fragment 199. For discus-
sion: R. G. Ussher, Aristophanes, Ecclesiazousai (Oxford, 1973), 175.
11. The event is narrated by Polyneikes in Euripides, Phoenissae, 410-25.
12. A. S. Hollis, Callimachus, Hecale (Oxford, 1990), 228, 317.
13. For the role of Helios as all-witness and informer in Greek literature: N. J. Richardson,
The Homeric Hymn to Demeter (Oxford, 1974), 156-7, 168.
14. W. Burkert, Homo Necans. The Anthropology of Ancient Sacrificial Ritual and Myth
(Berkeley-Los Angeles, London, 1983), 151-2. Latest discussion: S. Deacy in Rape in Antiquity,
S. Deacy-K. F. Pierce eds. (London, 1997), 48 ff.
15. Plutarch, Numa 9.5. On the relationship between the sexual/biological status of a woman
and her religious duties: P. Brule, La fille d'Athines (Paris, 1987), 121.
16. Latest discussions for the duties and route of the Arrhephoroi: B. Wesenberg, JDAI 110
(1995), 158 ff. n. 55; N. Robertson in Worshipping Athena, J. Neils ed. (Wisconsin, 1996), 60-2;
Brul', op. cit. (n. 15), 79-84; N. Robertson, HSPh 87 (1983), 241 ff.
17. '] O KT1TiEoE AvX'vov / OIJVEK )AO]>qvaL'7g Lcp-PV dvEAVaa-ro Kvarqv / 8EcfrTOtv]/qS. q O'uov 8OLmTpOL
?pp aaovro / .EL'pwv 6vOa TrrOSEUalv aELKa /i?7j8EO Xv'-rAa / o]t0K ~iri Uv. Acpq7 yap dAOL77TOEiS tr r7Tat8/
vwo-rEpr7Swith
identified XcAvog
the ilamp
7tva-rog A&r7Trva-ro
of Athena Aatlpoit.'
is a matter Whether the
of controversy lamp scholars.
among in the text
Forofdiscussion:
Euphorion may be
Hollis, op. cit. (n. 12), 228; Robertson (1983), op. cit. (n. 16), 274 n. 90; Brul', op. cit. (n. 15),
121.
18. For female depilation methods: M. F. Kilmer, Greek Erotica on Attic Red-figure Vases
(London, 1993), 133 ff.; M. F. Kilmer, JHS 102 (1982), 104 ff.
19. Mississippi University 77.3.112, ARV2 331.20, Para 361, Add2 217. F. Hauser, JOAI 12
(1909), 85 ff., esp. 86 fig. 51.
20. Although the vase is still unpublished, a brief description may be found: A. J. Paul, AJA
97 (1993), 330.
21. A. J. Paul (n. 20) identifies as hetairai the two women who accompany Eros during the
process of depilation, which appears curious since the presence of Eros could well be alluding to
a bridal preparation.
22. Latest discussion with references: L. Hackworth Petersen, Arethusa 30 (1997), 56-7, 60.
For the problem of interpretation of hetairai on Attic vases, see also: D. Williams in Images of
Women in Antiquity (n. 3), 97-8; Kilmer (1993), op. cit. (n. 18), 159 ff.
23. For the modesty of the Greek house, as a further sign of inequality between male and
female occupants: Walker, op. cit. (n. 3), 83.
24. Paris, Louvre G 13. Add2 170. Kilmer (1993), R156 (ill).
25. Berlin, Staatliche Museen 3251 and Florence, Museo Archeologico Etrusco I B49. Add2
173. Kilmer, op. cit. (n. 24), R192 (ill).
26. New York, Metropolitan Museum 20.246. Add2 245.
27. Paris, Louvre Cp 11458 fr. ARV2 372.30. Kilmer, op. cit. (n. 24), R517 (ill).
28. Florence, Museo Archeologico Etrusco 3921. Add2 225. J. Boardman-E. La Rocca, Eros
in Greece (London, 1978), 91 (ill).
29. Ferrara, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Spina T108 A VP. Add' 362. CVA i, pl. 27.1-
2.
30. Munich, Antikensammlungen inv. 8935. Add2 152.
31. Munich, Antikensammlungen inv. 2410. Add' 325. CVA v, pl. 250, 251.3.
32. See p. 19 above.
33. For the seclusion of citizen women in contrast to the open lifestyle of hetairai, see nn. 3-4.
34. J. M. Edmonds, The Fragments of Attic Comedy, IIIA (Leiden, 1961), 384-5, no. 151-2.
35. See nn. 36-41.
36. The Greek Anthology (Loeb), v. 7.
37. Ibid., v. 8.
38. Ibid., v. 191.
39. Ibid., v. 197.
40. Ibid., v. 165.
41. Ibid., v. 166.
42. B. Rutkowski, JDAI 94 (1979), 176; LIMC Aphrodite 30 no. 189.
43. LIMC Aphrodite 20 no. 124.
44. LIMC Aphrodite 17 no. 80.
45. For the outfit and age of the girls on the krateriskoi from Artemis' sanctuarie
Sourvinou-Inwood, Studies in Girls' Initiations: Aspects of the Arkteia and Age Representa
Attic Iconography (Athens, 1988), 47-8, 119, 120, 123, 124.
46. L. Kahil, AK 8 (1965), 21, pl. 7, 5, no. 3; pl. 8.4 no. 8; 24 pl. 9.2-6, 8-10;
L. Palaiokrassa, T8 ilEp rvg Aprc'Lwo0 Movvvyxta (Athens, 1991), 152 KK16, MH5429, pl. 41,
162 Kc56 MH15429, pl. 41.
47. For the attribution of age-groups on the basis of the iconography of the krateriskoi and on
literary accounts (e.g., Aristophanes, Lysistrata), see n. 45.
48. L. Kahil, AK Beiheft 1 (1963), 24, A50, pl. 13.6.
49. Sourvinou-Inwood, op. cit. (n. 45), 123, 119.
50. For pannychides in the cult of Artemis: D. L. Page, Alcman: The Partheneion (Oxford,
1951), 80 n. 3; K. Dowden, Death and the Maiden: Girls' Initiation Rites in Greek Mythology
(London-New York, 1989), 33, 103; W. K. Pritchett, Ot'Ata "Er7q B' (Athens, 1987), 184-5.
51. Ch. Sourvinou-Inwood, 'Reading' Greek Culture. Texts and Images, Rituals and Myth
(Oxford, 1991), 107-8. For example: Boston, Museum 33.56, ARV2 600.12.
52. Dunedin (N.Z.), Otago Museum F 54.48. AR

53. Basle, Market Formerly, AR V2 720.23 (Leky
Fitzwilliam Museum 1.02; Para 465.2 (Small hydr
pl. 34.2.
54. On the animality of the apKroL: Sourvinou-I
op. cit. (n. 50) 34-5; Brule, op. cit. (n. 15), 214-1
of Wild Animals' in Pandora, op. cit. (n 4), 299 ff.
55. For example: St. Petersburg, Hermitage B 3
Artemis 658 no. 454, pl. 482 (The Pan Painter, c.4
AR V2 678.4, Add2 279, LIMC II, Artemis 655 no
470); Athens National Museum 1313 (CC 1425), A
699 no. 1021, pl. 524 (The Bowdoin Painter, c.460); Athens, National Museum 18590, Para
405, LIMC II, Artemis 699 no. 408 (The Bowdoin Painter, c.460).
56. LIMC V Hestia, 410 nos 21 and 27 pl. 297; also see 411-12.
57. New York, Metropolitan Museum 16.73; J. H. Oakley-R. H. Sinos, The Wedding in
Ancient Athens (Wisconsin-London, 1993), 20 fig. 37.
58. Karlsruhe, Badisches Landesmuseum 69/78, ARV2 1102.2, Para 451, Add2 329. Oakley-
Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 15 figs. 16-19.
59. Athens, National Museum 1453, ARV2 1127.98, Para 453, Add2 329.
60. On the duty of dadouchousa: A. Avagianou, Sacred Marriage Rituals in Greek Religion
(Bern, 1991), 11 n. 52; W. D. Furley, Studies in the Use of Fire in ancient Greek Religion (New
York, 1981), 187; Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 26.
61. London, British Museum B 197, Add2 77. Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 29 fig. 66. It is
also possible to recognize Artemis here as dadouchousa, in view of the divine context of the scene
which includes Apollo, and her other black-figure representations as dadouchousa in weddings. In
the latter, she retains a place next to the horses of the chariot, holds two torches in hand and faces
towards the procession which she often leads. Similar is the posture of a dadouchousa on a pyxis
dated to 370-360: Athens National Museum 1630, Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 32, figs. 80-1.
62. Berlin, Staatliche Museen F 2372, Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 30-1, figs. 72-3.
63. London, British Museum 1920.12-21.1, AR V2 1277.23, 1282 and 1689, Add2 357.
Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 31, figs. 75-7.
64. Apart from the wedding night, little is known about the actual time of the wedding
procession or the other rituals in Athenian weddings. For discussion: Oakley-Sinos, op. cit.
(n. 57), 10.
65. Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum 929.22.3, Add2 317. Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 32,
figs. 82-4.
66. Athens, National Museum 1174, AR V2 1127.15, Para 453. Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57),
32-3, fig. 85; Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum 2027, AR V2 1127. 11, Add2 332; Baltimore,
Robinson Collection, CVA ii, pl. 491a-d.
67. Athens, National Museum 1388, Add2 363. Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 33, figs. 87-9.
68. New York, Metropolitan Museum 56.11.1, Add2 45. For discussion of the scene: Oakley-
Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 29-30, figs. 68-70.
69. Berlin, Staatliche Museen F 2530, Add2 295. Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 33, fig. 91.
70. The iconographical resemblance of both figures at the entrance of the house to Artemis
and Apollo could perhaps lead to their identification with them.
71. Copenhagen, National Museum 9080, Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 33-4, figs. 92-5.
72. Berlin, Staatliche Museen inv. 3373, Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 38, figs. 115-19.
73. London, British Museum D 11, Add2 303. Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 34-5.
74. Warsaw, National Museum 142319, LIMC II Artemis 721 no. 1284, Oakley-Sinos, op.
cit. (n 57), 106-8, figs. 100-4; Boston, Museum of Fine Arts 03.802, Oakley-Sinos, op. cit.
(n. 57), 36, figs. 105-7.
75. New York, Levy Collection. Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 36-7, figs. 108-10.
76. For the feast of 'Eral'Aa: Palaiokrassa, op. cit. (n. 46), 68 nn. 156-7; Oakley-Sinos, op.
cit. (n. 57), 38-42.
77. Brussels, Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire A 1380, AR V2 841.74, CVA iii, pl. 12.9,
14.2; Copenhagen, National Museum 9165, Para 382.2, CVA viii, pl. 343.a-b. 344; Geneva,
Mus&e d'Art et d'Histoire H 239, Para 386.44, CVA i, pl. 17.5-6, 19.1.
78. See n. 77.

79. Palaiokrassa, op. cit. (n. 46), 68-9 nn. 156-61.
80. Palaiokrassa, op. cit. (n. 46), 135 Ka30 MH5411, pl. 30a; 137 Ka36 MH5411, p
137 Ka37 MH5411, pl. 36.
81. For a similar possible non-practical function of torches in a prenuptial context see 27-8.
82. Other rituals also made use of the broader context of fire transmission from one place to
another, as a symbolic act of unification and continuity. For example, the fire of the oikistes at
the founding of a colony, the symbolic fire transfer during torch races, or indeed Plato's linking
of the concept of life and family succession with the handing over of a torch in torch races
(Leges 6, 776b). Furthermore, transition rituals which marked a symbolic passage from one
world to another also required torches (e.g., Eleusinian and Dionysiac Mysteries).
83. For example: Iliad 18.491-3; Euripides, Ph. 344, Hel. 637-40, IA 733. On weddings
without torches (A4atS3ov'xyot yditot) see Euripides, Ion 1473-5 (where the lack of torches and
songs is associated with a bastard child). For discussion: Oakley-Sinos, op. cit. (n. 57), 26, 136
n. 24; Furley, op. cit. (n. 60), 186 n. 7.
84. M. L. West, Hesiod, Works and Days (Oxford, 1978), 336-7; id., Studies in Greek Elegy
and Iambus (Berlin, 1974), 143; R. Parker, Miasma. Pollution and Purification in Early Greek
Religion (Oxford, 1983), 76-7.
85. For the text: O. Masson, Les fragments du po&te Hipponax (Paris, 1962), 79.
86. Parker, op. cit. (n. 84), 31-2.
87. Athens, National Museum 1695, AR V2 1204.2 1687, 1704, Para 463, Add2 344 (con-
nected with the Group of Palermo 16).
88. The shape of the body and the head resembles other red-figure representations of pigs.
For example, J. L. Durand, Sacrifice et Labour en Grece Ancienne (Paris-Rome, 1986), 135, figs.
58-9, 136, figs. 60-1. For debate about the kind of animal to be sacrificed in this scene, and the
religious occasion, see recently: U. Kron, AA (1992), 616-17 (she accepts the Thesmophoria as
the religious occasion for the sacrifice, but does not recognize the animal as a pig); E. Simon,
MDAI(A) 100 (1985), 273 n. 12 (she dissociates the scene from Demeter's cult and attributes it
to the Hekataia).
89. Blundell, op. cit. (n. 5), 163.
90. J. H. Oakley et al. eds., Athenian Potter and Painter. Athens, American School of Classical
Studies. Catalogue of the Exhibit, December 1, 1994-March 1, 1995 (Athens, 1994), 38-9.
91. For example: Altenburg, Staatliches Lindenau Museum 289, ARV 2 487.62(48), CVA ii,
pl. 45.1-2 (Hermonax); Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum 145, ARV 2 727.2, CVA i, pl. 29.9a-b
(The Two-Row Painter).
92. For example: Altenburg, Staatliches Lindenau Museum 273, AR V2 1194.2 (The Painter
of Altenburg 273), CVA ii, pl. 48.1-2; Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2363, ARV2
853.1, Add2 297 (The Painter of Munich 2363); Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2356
(J258), AR V2 1130.147(56) (The Washing Painter); Brussels, Musees Royaux A 3094, AR V2
842.122(63), CVA iii, pl. 12.11b, 14.3a (The Sabouroff Painter); Bourges, Musees du Berry
883.71.91, CVA i, pl. 8.2, 4; Compiegne, Musee Vivenel 1036, ARV2 212.213(173), Add2 196,
CVA i, pl. 14.7 (The Berlin Painter); Laon, Musee Archeologique Municipal 371043, ARV2
1130.148, CVA i, pl. 33.4, 7 (The Washing Painter); Syracuse, Museo Nazionale 33502, AR V2
519.20(14) (The Syracuse Painter); Copenhagen, National Museum 6558, AR V2 838.31(18),
CVA iv, pl. 160.1a-c (The Sabouroff Painter); Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum 985, ARVF
591.20, Para 394, Add2 264 (The Altamura Painter).
93. For example: New York, Metropolitan Museum 41.162.117, AR V2 642.104, Add2 274
(The Providence Painter); Oxford, Ashmolean Museum 1890.23, AR V2 641.84, Add2 274 (The
Providence Painter); Paris, Louvre G 202, CVA vi, pl. 36.10-11; Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsamm-
lungen T 696, AR V2 (488.75 bis), Para 380, Add2 248, CVA i, pl. 32.1-2 (Hermonax).
94. For example: Paris, Louvre G 202, CVA vi, pl. 36.10-11; Laon, Musee Archeologique
Municipal 371043, ARV2 1130.148, CVA ii, pl. 33.4, 7 (The Washing Painter); Munich,
Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2356 (J258), ARV2 1130. 147(56) (The Washing Painter).
95. For example: Altenburg, Staatliches Lindenau Museum 273, AR V2 1194.2 (The Painter
of Altenburg 273); CVA ii, pl. 48.1-2; Syracuse, Museo Nazionale 33502, ARV2 519.20(14)
(The Syracuse Painter); Copenhagen, National Museum 6558, ARV2 838.31(18), CVA iv,
pl. 160.1a-c (The Sabouroff Painter).
96. For example: Brussels, Musees Royaux A 309

14.3a (The Sabouroff Painter); Altenburg, Staatliches Lindenau Museum 230, ARV'
1283.14(19), CVA ii, pl. 72.1, 2, 4 (The Lid Painter).
97. For scenes of erotic pursuits including ephebes and young women see Sourvinou-Inwood,
op. cit. (n. 51), 66-70.
98. Blundell, op. cit. (n. 5), 43, 161.
99. See discussion on p. 24, with n. 23.
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
MICHAEL GRANT: was Professor of Humanity at

Edinburgh and Vice Chancellor of the Queen's Un
SOPHIE MILLS: Assistant Professor and Chair of Classics, the
University of North Carolina at Asheville.
EVA PARISINOU: Visiting Lecturer, Royal Holloway and Associate
Lecturer at the Open University.
SHELLEY HALES: Lecturer in Ancient History, School of History and
Archaeology, Cardiff University.
ANDREOLA ROSSI: Mellon Fellow at Amherst College.
INGO GILDENHARD: Lecturer in Classics, King's College, London.
ANDREW ZISSOS: Assistant Professor of Latin Literature, University
of Texas at Austin.
DAVID WOODS: College Lecturer in Ancient Classics, University
College Cork.
GILLIAN CLARK: Senior Lecturer in Classics, University of Liver
pool and Professor-elect of Ancient History, University of Bristol.
SHAUN TOUGHER: Lecturer in Ancient History, School of History
and Archaeology, Cardiff University.

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'Lighting' the World of Women: Lamps and Torches in the Hands of Women in the Late

Archaic and Classical Periods

'LIGHTING' THE WORLD OF WOMEN:

Lamps in Private Domestic Activities of

In the prologue to the Ecclesiazousai (1-18)1 Aristophanes refers to the

unlock / The storehouse door, or siph

.. ..... ...iiiiiiiiii l ....

naked bearded man bangs it with an extinguished torch, which he

of the Archon-Basileus at the Boukolei

A Lamp-Witness of a Divine Secret

2. Sicilian Red-figure Calyx-krater. Lipari,

of the oikos. Yet the lamp is the sile

widows,"15 who had experienced thi

Lamps and the Practice of Genital Depilation

Further aspects of the private life of women may be observed in two

Lamps and Love-making

The profession of hetairai required nudity, as may be observed on a

simple one-nozzled specimens, replac

3. Attic Red-figure Cup. Florence, Museo

of the vase. By 430, on a stamnos by the Painter of the Louvre

wives.33 'Respectable' women apparently

some companion of the night?'38 The im

Torches in a Prenuptial Context

In contrast to lamps which penetrate the domestic secret life of

From the late 6th century onwards,

wearing a peplos, also occur53 and

Wedding Torches and Legitimate Unions

Representations of all the phases of the wedding ritual regularly include

bride. She is followed by two women, o

who carry boxes complete the scen

4. Attic Red-figure Loutrophoros. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum Inv. IV 2027

The arrival of the procession at the bridegroom's home is represented

long himation. A similar arrangement ma

gamikoi and loutrophoroi may be me

(4atov6Xq-Tot ycdpot) had to be avoided.83

Hearth-light, Love-making, and Reproduction

Despite the function of torches as symbols of legitimate sexual union,

Women with Torches in the Worship of Gods: a Justification

A mid-5th-century red-figure lekythos87 depicts a woman involved

5. Attic Red-figure Lekythos. Athens, Amer

help in reconstructing the ritual con

komasts) the status of these women

who are depicted with komasts (some

* I am grateful to Dr C. A. Morgan who read and commented on an

52. Dunedin (N.Z.), Otago Museum F 54.48. AR

78. See n. 77.

96. For example: Brussels, Musees Royaux A 309

MICHAEL GRANT: was Professor of Humanity at

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